One of the difficulties with animal identification tags is that, to prevent snagging of the tag on brush or fences, the large panel carrying the animal identification panel should be sufficiently pliable to enable it to flex and bend in response to the panel's snagging on brush or fences.
On the other hand, the large panel needs to be retained on the animal by a stud having a head that will not be drawn through the soft panel. Typically, the prior-art animal identification panels have been made with an enlarged region called a "boss" which is located around the hole in the animal identification panel.
Generally, the amount of holding strength (i.e., the force necessary to pull the stud head backward through the boss) is limited by the material used in the manufacture of the animal identification panel; that is, the softer the material, the less holding strength. In addition, the impregnation of panels with insecticides further increases the flexibility of the panel, thus reducing the holding strength of the tag. Thus, while the tag may flex and bend to avoid snagging, the panel may actually pull free of the stud if the panel is made of a too-soft material.
The boss could be made with greater thickness or an increased size to provide greater resistance to withdrawal, but this would require having a different size applicator to hold the tag during application to an animal.
The present invention enables a person to use a separate panel retainer made of material with properties different from the panel which would substantially increase the holding strength of the animal tag, yet retain the ability of the panel to flex and bend to minimize the panel's snagging on fences, brush or the like. In addition, since the increased withdrawal strength can be obtained by using materials of different relative strengths, the user does not need a special applicator to apply the tag because the outer dimension of the panel insert of the present invention can be identical to those of the bosses on prior-art tags.
Other types of animal identifications tags have used metal washers or the like to engage a portion of the tag. The present invention provides an improved animal identification tag which has a panel insert with a frangible extension for temporarily securing the panel insert to the animal identification panel during the pre-application and application processes, thus enabling a person to attach the panels and panel inserts of the present invention to an animal using existing applicators normally used for attaching studs to animal identification panels having integral bosses. Thus, one using the present invention can use the same applicator to apply panels with integral bosses as well as panels containing the panel insert of the present invention.